La Bise
by Rianne Pond
Summary: That awkward moment when you accidentally kiss Light because you're unaware of social conventions. "L works alone. These were words I lived by, but after so many cases and so much loneliness it was about time I found a real and true friend. Maybe when all of this was over we could play tennis together on the weekends. We'd be good and proper friends."


**La Bise**

Needless to say this case was tiring. It was approaching four in the morning when I finally decided it was time for Light and I to part ways. Of course everyone else had left with the pretenses that they had a family to attend to, but Light seemed more than happy to stay with me and sort through the evidence. He was my first and only friend as far as I was concerned and the fact that he was willing to pull all-nighters just to solve the case in which he was the top suspect was just another sign that he too considered me a friend. I admit, there was an eighty six percent possibility that he was only doing this to remove suspicion, but I didn't mind, the company was worth it.

L works alone.

These were words I lived by, but after so many cases and so much loneliness it was about time I found a real and true friend. Maybe when all of this was over we could play tennis together on the weekends. I could show him my favorite bakery if he was interested. We'd have a good and proper friendship like I had with the boys back at Wammy's. Sure, we had to crack down and solve this mystery first, but I was up for a little challenge.

"Ryuuzaki," Light whined, his voice sounding groggy as he rubbed his eyes. "I can't seem to keep my eyes open any longer," he admitted, abash that he wasn't so apt to staying up late.

"Of course," I murmured, nodding. "I still haven't gotten used to your sleep patterns," I mentioned, looking up from the television screen with curiosity. He chuckled to himself.

"Do you ever sleep?" he asked, pushing back his disheveled hair and rubbing his eyes again, more vigorously this time. I too laughed at this statement. He watched me carefully, seemingly evaluating my actions.

"I've trained my body to function on as few hours of sleep as possible," I explained, stacking yet another sugar cube into my buoyant coffee. As the tower was impossibly tall at this point I knocked it over with the flick of a finger and took a sip of my syrupy caffeine. Light gave me a nearly disgusted expression. I smiled.

"How many does that happen to be?" he asked, fiddling with the paper coffee mug on his desk. The Kira Investigation Team: run on will power and caffeine. I thought about my answer. On average I slept very few hours in the day, perhaps the number would frighten him.

"Maybe two a day," I replied, "give or take a few," I said, motioning with my hand. His jaw dropped. I cocked my head to the side wondering just what this reaction meant. Perhaps he'd stopped working properly due to lack of sleep. No, the human body can withstand amazing things; a couple late nights wouldn't break him.

"Two hours?" he asked, unbelievingly. I nodded. I'd been trained for this lifestyle early on. Watari had kept me up countless nights past three a.m. just to see how well I could function on these sleepless nights. Slowly my abilities plateau-ed into a steady, constant brilliance no matter how many hours of slumber I'd received. He shook his head once more and blinked an incessant number of times.

"How many hours do you sleep, Light?" I asked, meaning it to be mere small-talk, but it sounding very much like an interrogation none-the-less. He shrugged and yawned, ruffling his hair from his face.

"On a normal night?" he muttered. "I sleep eight hours," he replied, yawning once more. This time it was my jaw that seemingly hit the floor.

"Eight hours?" I exclaimed. "But, that's an entire six hours that you could be doing things!" I yelled. At this sound Watari peeked into the room. Seeing nothing wrong he left once more. "How can you sleep for that long?" I accused. He laughed once more.

"You're a strange guy, Ryuuzaki, you know that?" he half mumbled, half yawned. I sheepishly glanced down at my coffee. The sugar cubes were melting into a mountain of sweet, syrupy goodness. It was true. I was a strange person. I always had been. He knew me better than I was ready to admit he did.

"I guess," I chortled. He shrugged.

"It isn't a bad thing," he mentioned, standing up from his chair and tossing his paper coffee mug at the trash can and missing. He gave a self-deprecating snicker. "Can't win them all, huh? I guess I'll be heading out now," he explained, heading to the door. I quickly jumped to my feet and strode alongside him.

"I'll show you out," I said, expressing chivalry.

"I know where the door is, Ryuuzaki," he said slyly while sliding his jacket over his shoulders. I nodded solemnly.

"I just thought I'd say goodbye," I replied unfazed by his blunt personality. It was factual the true feelings of a person really do come out when denied rest. I knew it was just his lack of sleep talking.

"Well," he said stopping at the lobby door, looking out the window to the dark street. "Goodbye then Ryuuzaki." I leaned forward and gave him a hug, to which he responded as if he'd never been touched before. His back went rigid and his arms remained plastered at his sides. When the initial shock wore off, he patted my shoulder and looked at me as I released my, admittedly, strong grip on him. Just as he thought the strange and awkward moment had passed I leaned up and kissed each of his cheeks once.

Social conventions.

His face contorted into a look of sort of displeasure and confusion. I didn't know what I'd done wrong. During my time on vacation in France this was how you said goodbye to your friends. I worried that maybe I'd crossed a friendship line and ruined our budding companionship. What had I done to induce his reaction? He coughed into his hand and scratched his forehead.

"Oh man," he muttered, mostly to himself. "You just kissed me." I looked at him with an unbridled inquisitiveness.

"It's called 'la bise'," I explained, looking into his eyes for any sort of reaction. His mind took a moment to process the words I said. Slowly it seemed to register on his face. He nodded slowly then stuck his hand out to me. I looked at his hand then back at his face. His eyes egged me to take his hand. With a silent nod of his head Light shook my hand within his own in a short and precise movement.

"Ryuuzaki," he began, "I don't know how things are done in France or Britain or wherever you're from, but from now on let's stick to the handshake," he suggested, smiling. He meant no malice, obviously aware of my lack of social skills. I nodded eagerly, glad that he was accepting and looking forward to our next friendly handshake.

"Agreed."

* * *

**I can see L doing something like this but even so it may be a little OOC, oh well! Who knows what's going on in that brilliant mind of his? Remember to FAVORITE, REVIEW and READ my other stories! Thanks for reading :D**


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